The Legacy Begins: Shadows of the Moon
by Neo Emolga
Summary: The rising moon will cause the russet leaves to stray and together they will destroy DarkClan as you know it. Rated T


**Disclaimer; I do NOT own Warriors.**

**The Legacy Begins: Shadows of the Moon**

**Prologue**

The kits were awake early and ready for a story. They just couldn't let their poor mother have a single moment of peace.

A silver she-cat tumbled head over paws before looking up at her mother with big amber eyes. Her two brothers, both golden tabby toms, followed.

"Tell us a story, Fernwhisker!" the she-cat pleaded.

The golden she-cat's green eyes flashed with amusement. "Alright. Well, I suppose you three are old enough to learn about the great warrior Clans."

"What's a Clan?"

"Hush, Moon," Fernwhisker meowed sternly. "Lion, Eagle, stop fidgeting. Now, I'll tell you about the five Clans. First is LakeClan, a large group of cats who live next to the large lake. Stream and a small part of the forest make up most of their territory, and they tend to hunt fish and like to swim."

"_Swim!_" Lion snorted. "Cats who like water? That's just weird."

Fernwhisker's ear twitched. "Next is MountainClan, the cats who live among the cliffs of the large mountains on the northern edge of Clan territory. The cats of MountainClan have strong hind legs for scaling the rocky and steep mountains. They're skilled at catching large birds for prey."

Eagle's eyes lit up. "Like eagle?"

Fernwhisker purred. "Yes, like eagles."

Moon pounced on her brother, pinning him to the floor. "Look, Fernwhisker! I caught an eagle!"

Eagle easily knocked her off and Fernwhisker continued on with her tale.

"To the west, inhabiting half of the forest, is DarkClan," Fernwhisker's eyes darkened and her pelt began to bristle. "DarkClan are different from the others. Long ago when the Clans were founded, Darkstar, the first leader of DarkClan, declared that only toms would take on the positions of warriors and medicine cats. All she-cats would become queens. At twelve moons old, she-cats are given what Darkstar dubbed their 'queen name', and the leader will assign them a mate."

Moon's eyes widened. "They can't even fall in love? That's horrible!"

"Yes," Fernwhisker agreed sadly. "To the east are CaveClan. Seasons ago, a cave in occurred in the mountain's cave system, separating MountainClan into two halves. The second half became CaveClan, and found that they prefer to live inside the caves rather than on the mountainside itself. Bats are a big source of CaveClan prey, as the caves are filled with them."

_Who'd want to live in the dark? _Moon thought sourly.

"And finally, in the middle, is TreeClan, who inhabit the last half of the forest," Fernwhisker meowed. "TreeCan cats are skilled at climbing and hunting in the tree tops. Rumor is that they even used the trees when fighting enemies."

"Do the Clans fight each other a lot?" Moon asked, concerned. "What if they get hurt?"

"Each Clan has a medicine cat who knows about herbs and heals wounds and sickness when needed," Fernwhisker answered. "Medicine cats also interpret signs from StarClan."

"But I thought there were only five Clans?" Lion meowed, obviously confused.

"You see the stars in the sky?"Fernwhisker asked, glancing up at the sky from her make-shift den. "Every star is a StarClan warrior or medicine cat. They are our ancestors who watch over and protect us."

"Where do the evil cats go?"

"To the Place of No Stars," Fernwhisker answered grimly. "Also known as the Dark Forest."

"One day, I'm gonna join the Clans!" Moon announced.

"No!" Fernwhisker screeched, fur fluffing up in anger. "You'll find you're not welcome there.

Moon stared at her, caught off guard by her mother's reaction.

Little did either know that StarClan were guiding Moon's pawsteps and had already set her on her own special path.

**xXxTLB:SotMxXx**

_"She is coming, Rowanstripe," Nightfur purred._

_Her former apprentice snorted. "My apprentice? So, she's finally begun the journey across the lake, then."_

_"Yes," Nightfur agreed. "She may not know it yet, but StarClan guides her pawsteps."_

_"I will train her well."_

_Nightfur's pelt prickled. "The moon will rise above the trees to bring light to the dark. Snow will be stained red and the forest will burn before the russet leaves make right an old wrong."_

_"But what -"_

Rowanstripe's eyes snapped upon hearing the ear-splitting wail echoing through camp. It would appear that Flarestorm had begun her kitting. As he gathered herbs to help the queen through the birth of her first litter, Rowanstripe had no idea that another medicine cat was also receiving a dream from StarClan.

_"Beware, Frogpelt," a pure white tom warned. "The rising moon will cause the russet leaves to stray and together they will destroy DarkClan as you know it."_

_Frogpelt's brown tabby pelt began to bristle, and he growled softly. "Tell me what it means, Snowpelt! When will the rising moon come?"_

_"She has already begun the journey that will lead her to the Clans," Snowpelt answered. "Beware, Frogpelt, or everything will change..."_

**_A/N: Welcome, everyone, to the beginning of Shadows of the Moon! This story is published on a joint account shared by Firewhiskey Moon (Neo Sylveon) and Neo Emolga. We hope you all enjoy the story as we travel down the road that will lead to the end of this book, book one in the Legacy series._**

**_Fun Fact: Originally, the story was going to focus on a cat born into DarkClan rather than a cat who travels to the Clan._**

**_Question of the Day: If you were Moon and your mother had snapped at you the way Fernwhisker did, would this only fuel your desire to join the Clan's or would it make you surrender the dream?_**

**_~Neo Sylveon_**


End file.
